We moved on 12 April to Staffordshire to stay with relatives for about 4 weeks before setting off on our trip. During this time we are making the final arrangements ready for the trip, including buying Europe-compatible gas for cooking, heating, hot water and the fridge. British brands such as Calor Gas and Camping Gas are not readily available in Europe, so we are having the Motorhome converted to LPG accommodation gas, which is more widely available at petrol stations.
We have got a Sat Nav, (sadly not with the voice of Brian Blessed saying "OH noooo, you've gone past the turning") and most of the other paraphernalia we need like electric cables, and water pipes for the day to day maintenance of our new "home." We are just waiting for a service to be done, and for a TV and satellite- signal- finder to be fitted.
The Motorhome is a Fiat Ducato 2.4 diesel, and has a 6 berth Pilote Galaxy body. There is a fixed double bed at the rear, and a pull down double bed over the driving seats. The two seats also convert to a double. See the photo gallery.
We are taking bikes with us, to help us explore the areas we go to, without having to necessarily go through tiny villages in a big lumbering motorhome.
We intend to use "aires," a network of municipal service sites, from the very basic where you can either just use it as a pit-stop to top up/empty water, etc, to ones with more extensive facilities like showers, and being able to stay overnight. There are aires all over mainland Western Europe, and we have guidebooks telling us where to find them. We will also obviously be using campsites, particularly when we need to use a launderette, or just want a bit more comfort. Most aires will only let you stay during the day, or up to two nights.
